CARFAX - What Are You Thinking?

[Linda Bolin]

NEED TO FNOW RETAIL PRICE

 

[Auto Appraiser]

I'm an Auto Appraiser, I specialize in Diminished Value, I'm in the process of negotiating a settlement with another appraiser using the carfax price adjustment as fact. This is simply outrageous! The value on Crafax for a 10K wreck is minus $450.... this makes no sense whatsoever! http://www.diminishedvalue.co

 

[Jim]

I have a carfax report on all of my vehicles, and never once has a customer even brought this up. Its not a big deal. Is it stupid? Very. But their price evaluations mean absolutely nothing. Ive had 1 owner vehicles with 15 service records that had the same 'price adjustment' as wrecked vehicles. So yes, its a dumpsterfire for Carfax to be doing, but it hasn't affected anything with my sales.

 

[Jim]

and if its any consolation, after that 09 Mercedes was sold 2 years later, it now has a +500 price adjustment lol

 

[Imriven]

As a consumer I think it's useful to see what has happened to a car in its history because 90% of the time a sales person isn't going to say this car has been in an accident. Plus carfax only has reported incidents on it. The car could have been through more than anybody knows about. Plus there are tons of appraisal tools out there for figuring out prices for used cars, I don't think this is really a big deal. Edmunds has an app that I think is pretty amazing but I'm curious what the sales people think about it.

 

[Derek]

Dealers should stop using services like this all together. These "reports" have single handily ruined used car pricing. If there is "mechanical" or "maintenance" history available, this could be useful (but what about the "mechanical" or "maintenance" that is not posted/listed?)

The body damage/accident information is an absolute joke, yet,this is the information that most people seem the most concerned about. This information comes almost solely from police reports. Insurance companies do not report crash information as the auto "check" companies will have you believe. I respect all law enforcement officers, but last time I checked, these guys are not experts in analyzing auto damage and auto damage repair.

Carfax and companies like them are solely responsible for the diminished value placed on vehicles just because they happen to show up on one of their reports. Just because the car was in a crash does not mean that it was not repaired properly. What about the cars that were in a crash (or suffered other damage) and do not show up on a report. Some of these repairs are done "improperly", but some how a car with an improper repair is now worth more than a car with a "proper" repair.

Dealers: Stop using these services! Instead, learn how to appraise cars with excellent repair work vs. poor repair work. (oh, and stop using "lot jockey's" to repair damage....this does not help either)